THE Westholme garden bench not only looks very classy - it's also extremely comfortable to sit on. It's definitely designed to tempt you away from the weeding and very much a cut above your DIY supermarket offering.

The bench is a copy of one from Westholme Hall, Winston, near Barnard Castle. When owner Captain John McBain asked Teesdale Garden Crafts to make a replica of an old favourite, he kindly let them use the design for one of their standard models and it's been a best seller ever since.

Teesdale Garden Crafts is a special needs co-operative which provides day care and work for people with physical and learning disabilities. At this time of year, their main work is producing garden furniture - benches, chairs, picnic tables, pergolas and planters.

There's also a very simple but clever bird table designed to keep out cats and large birds. That was designed by a rather grand neighbour too.

The workshop started life in 1989 as a Durham County Council scheme. After it was threatened with closure in 1995 - despite a 4,000 signature petition in their support - they re-formed themselves into a co-operative and kept going.

Everything the craftsmen produce is of a very high standard, overseen by Harry Dick, who in a previous life was Commercial Director of Vickers shipyard. Now he works with Sam Long, Stephen Wall, John Emerson and John Lowes, guiding them into producing beautiful things out of wood.

"Apart from our standard lines, what we really specialise in are individual commissions," says Harry. "Gates, for instance. The trouble with gates is that they are rarely a standard size but we can design and make to measure."

The workshop is at the un-smart end of Stainton Grove Industrial Estate just outside Barnard Castle, but they are blessed with brilliant neighbours.

"It's a wonderful place to be, " says Harry. "There's a joiner on one side who can help us if a job's too big for our machines. Then just along a bit, we have someone who will do any welding we need. We're very lucky."

Their office used to be a ramshackle caravan until a director from Glaxo came to buy something one day, took one look, and subsequently arranged for them to have a Portakabin. And people give them wood. Or, more accurately, old trees, which provides another aspect of their work.

For they also produce lathe-turned hardwood bowls, lamps and candlesticks, many of them with their own unique history.

"If someone's had to chop down a favourite tree, they'll bring in a large branch of it, ask us to make something as a memento for them and then let us use the rest."

There was a bowl made from old timber from HMS Trincomalee, candlesticks made from a yew from Romaldkirk churchyard and a walnut egg that originally grew in the churchyard at Staindrop.

The pattern of the grain of the yew and walnut are, of course, very attractive. But the surprise is some bowls made from laburnum and lilac - not woods you would immediately think of for turning. But the laburnum has an interesting deep yellow pattern to it and the lilac wood is very faintly tinged with pink.

Propped up against a wall is an enormous cartwheel which the workshop has rebuilt and renovated. "Not for proper use again. This one's just for a pub wall," says Harry.

"But if it's something made of wood and we can get it through the door, we'll probably have a go."

* Teesdale Garden Crafts, Unit 5 Stainton Grove Industrial Estate, Barnard Castle. Tel: 01833 631772.

They are closed this week but are usually open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9.30am-4pm, but best check first.

The Westholme bench ranges from £180 for a two-seater in pine to £450 for a three-seater in Iroko wood. The Teesdale seat with ladderback and scroll arms goes from £120 for a two-seater to £150 for a five seater in pine.

Pergolas cost from £175, bird table with stand £35, planters from £20. They also make a beautiful Windsor chair.

Some of the smaller turned items - bowls, lamps, etc are available from Curlews Bookshop in Barnard Castle.

STILL nutty... After a colleague bought a bag of mixed nuts which contained the helpful warning "This packet may contain nuts", Maurice Heslop rings. He and his wife were in a cafe in Pickering and asked specifically if the shortbread contained nuts. No, said the waitress.

One bite, however, proved it was made with coconut. But when they pointed this out , the surprised waitress said "Well, that's not nuts."

Maybe it's all a matter of scale.

Darlington's cameras can be picture perfect next week, thanks to a free healthcheck service.

Jessop's, at High Row, Darlington, is offering the service for any make or model of cameras, whether it was bought at Jessop's or not.

Teams of photographic 'doctors' will examine both working and broken cameras and give their diagnosis of current or future problems.

The event runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, April 27.

Published: 19/04/2002